


don't you cry no more

by seventhstar



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Gen, remember my "everyone is don thousand phase"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-03-23 01:35:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3750034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seventhstar/pseuds/seventhstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>but today he would be light-hearted; his father was proud. yuuma, kazuma, and reunions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	don't you cry no more

Yuuma followed the cave down into the depths of the mountain. Pink and purple crystals coated every surface, and the soft glow that emanated from it lit his way. His Key was alarmingly warm, reacting to the energy of Barian World that was everywhere. Astral could not come out, but Yuuma wasn’t afraid.

His father had said that this was the way.

“I’ll be waiting for you,” Kazuma’s last recording had said. “I’m so proud of you, Yuuma. I want to give you something you’ve really earned.”

How long had it been since Yuuma had seen him? Years and years that felt much longer than they were, filled with bullies and long nights where he and Akari cried, fears that no one was there to ease and adventures that were no fun to undertake alone. Yuuma had carried his father’s deck, moved into his attic to sleep surrounded by his memory, made his father’s word his life’s philosophy. Others had given up, and said that Kazuma was dead. That he would never come home.

But Yuuma had believed. Someday, his father would come home. He was too great to die, and he would come back with stories of the land beyond the edge of the world.

That day was here. Yuuma rehearsed the words in his head. He had so many questions to ask, and so many stories, saved up for Kazuma’s ears alone, weighing down his heart. But today he would be light-hearted; his father was proud. There was nothing else that could make him happier, even if he was crowned Duel Champion at that instant.

Had Kazuma come down this cave before him? Chosen it because he knew it would be easy for Yuuma to follow? Had he scoped out the trail, looking for a safe place for them to meet? Yuuma thought he could hear his father’s footsteps echoing in the passage; Kazuma’s voice, booming, telling him the history of this cave and this world.

The cave began to narrow, and Yuuma had to slouch, and then crawl. The light all around him grew dimmer. This passage was too small for Kazuma to have passed through, and Yuuma wondered if there was another way down, or if something had happened to narrow it, or if he was going the wrong way.

But no, his father had said it: there would be a carving of Rainbow Kuriboh above the entrance. Follow that cave all the way down. He had said that he would be waiting.

Was this a test? Yuuma wondered if that was it – his father wanted to see how he’d improved. Well, Yuuma would show him how much stronger he was now. He would do whatever it took, if it meant that he could throw himself into his father’s arms and have him ruffle his hair and tell him that Kazuma loved him.

The cave began to widen again, and Yuuma smelled something strong and acidic. The end of the passage opened onto an enormous underground lake, with thick crystal boulders on the shore. Yuuma got to his feet and ran, looking for a sign; but there was nothing. No further exits, no place to hide, just the clear lake and the smell and the light that came from everywhere.

“Tou-chan?” Yuuma stood at the edge of the water. If it was water; it seemed to be the source of the odor. He knelt down, staring at his disappointed reflection in the water, and saw movement behind him.

A familiar hat and vest, dark hair, a wide smile –

“Tou-ch –” Yuuma tried to turn around, and his heart broke.

No, that wasn’t right; his heart had been broken. Something had stabbed him from behind, shoving through his back and into his frantically thrashing heart and emerging from his chest coated in rich red blood. It was grey and scaly and clawed at the end. It was clutching a chunk of his heart as it wriggled.

Yuuma tried to scream for help – _where was his father where was he why wasn’t he helping_ – but he couldn’t move. The pain was intense and all-consuming, turning all his limbs to stone, leaving him to crumple onto the shore of the lake. He lay there face down.

Somehow, he could still cry.

Was this the end? Yuuma tried to understand what was happening, how hope had turned to despair so quickly, and as his vision blurred someone’s hand slid underneath him and turned  him over. The motion sent fresh agony throughout his body, broken bones slicing him up from inside, but even with his failing eyes he saw.

It was Kazuma who had turned him, Kazuma cradling him in his lap. Yuuma’s tears were relieved ones now, and he tried fruitlessly to speak again. _I’m so happy,_ he wanted to say; _you’re going to save me, right? Right?_

Why was his father smiling at him?

“You’ve done well, Yuuma Tsukumo,” Kazuma said in Don Thousand’s deep, hellish voice, and Yuuma could not give the scream of horror trapped in his throat life, had to choke on blind terror as his beloved father stroked his hair. He was grateful when his vision went black, when his body went numb – and then he remembered.

Astral was still there with him.

But it was too late; his smashed heart stopped beating, and the last thing Yuuma knew was the brief sharp pain of the string around his neck, the one the Key hung from, being snapped.

  
_[In exchange for this power…you will lose your most precious thing.]_


End file.
